June 1, 1865

September 2 ,1945

November 30, 1955

What is this common infamy?

All are on the wrong side of history.

The day before monumental events

Shaped and formed

our culture,

our moral compass

our very humanity.

 

And one day- in the not too distant future-

I hope –

Oh God I hope and pray

that this season of  atrocities too will take its place

at history’s gate

closed out from what is decent and moral and just

 

The tearing of child from a travel weary breast

The haunting sobs “Papa, Papa”

The dusty and dirty and disoriented, alone

in the heat of a desert, with not a thing to call their own

Even language escapes them.

 

Running with desperation from future of despair

Toward arms which promise

To welcome

the tired ,

the poor , 

the huddled masses, 

yearning to breathe free

And yet with malicious and selfish intent

Arms do not liberate,

but separate and incarcerate

All as political plea

 

A scourge on the very fabric

Our collective moral fiber

We are marked again

on the wrong side of History

in a mutiny of everything that defines us as human;

 

All who have ears to hear let them listen….

History will judge us

as standing on her wrong side –

One day,

when the stories are told

and the generation’s look back

they will ask of us …

How could that happen?

Why did people let that happen?

And humility will wave her long finger in the faces of those who dug in their heels and say

“Shame ….Shame….. Shame on you  and  you….and  you”

 

Until enough good people stand up and say ,

Not on our watch

will history

judge our place

And we will usher out

this unbearable sorrow

of our nations soul,

till then….

We must

Push forward

Resist

hold the banner high

 and KNOW

this too shall pass

and so

we pray,

we call,

we cry,

we clothe,

we feed ,

we donate,

we hug,

we nurture,

we are present with,

we run for office

we campaign….

For humanity sake

For all this greatness… is just too much to endure

Alone without each other

Martin Luther King once said “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”

We pray for that bend

Good God bring that bend!

Let Justice reign for us again.

 

  • By Ami Vielehr